It's August: Prepare for Cataclysm

Congress might be on recess and business slow, but this month always has its disproportionate share of world-historical events.

By

Andrew Roberts

Aug. 7, 2012 6:47 p.m. ET

What is it about the month of August? Why should we still persist in regarding it as a quiet time—with Congress in recess, business slowed down, and people on holiday—when so many world-historical events take place in this month? You can ignore the Ides of March, but history shows that it's in the dog days of August that great events take place.

Ever since the Roman Senate proclaimed in A.D. 8 that the eighth month of every year be...